An inmate who took another prisoner hostage led to a forceful intervention on Wednesday at the Rivière-des-Prairies detention facility. Known for his “violent past”, Steven Godin Charlish had already sequestered a correctional officer for long hours, in Sept-Îles, in 2016.
The case occurred around 2:30 p.m., in the middle of the afternoon, in the G4 sector of the building. Angry because he had been seized of adulterated alcohol entered inside the walls, Godin Charlish would then have locked himself in his cell, taking hostage the other inmate who was there, Shawn Lefebvre, has learned The Press. According to our information, he also attacked him physically.
Emergency teams and police personnel were called to the scene, but the man finally surrendered after an hour, after negotiations with the authorities.
In 2016, at the Sept-Îles detention facility, Steven Godin Charlish admitted having threatened with his accomplice Dany Bernatchez a correctional officer, before confining her for three hours. He had also pleaded guilty a few months later to counts of conspiracy, assault with injury and breaking prison with the intention of recovering his freedom.
For Mathieu Lavoie, who is president of the Syndicat des agents de la paix en services correctionnels du Québec, the main person concerned is a “problematic inmate, known for his violent past”.
We want to highlight that for correctional services officers, it is a problem, violence increasingly present inside the walls, especially since this person should have been in a safer sector, more restrained, considering his past of violence.
Mathieu Lavoie, President of the Union of Peace Officers in Correctional Services of Quebec
Mr. Lavoie regrets that the authorities often do too little to ensure the safety of officers. “It’s a reality that we see more and more in the correctional system, where a lot of generosity is given to incarcerated people despite their past of violence,” concludes Mr. Lavoie.
In April 2021, a hundred correctional officers demonstrated in front of the Bordeaux prison, in Montreal, to denounce the “lack of judgment” of the management. This no longer “protects” employees when physical attacks by prisoners occur, several employees, supported by the union, said at the time. “Assaults, there are several. We have been living with this problem on a recurring basis for several years,” confirms Mr. Lavoie.
With the collaboration of Daniel Renaud, The Press